Falstaff Encore (St Louis Region SCCA National)

Mid-America Raceway, 7 Sep 1975

All cars are 1.6-litre FB unless noted.

Notes on the cars:

1. Brabham BT38 [14] (Bob Schutt): Brand new for Motul Rondel Racing at Oulton Park at the end of March 1972, and raced there by Tim Schenken, who finished second. For Schenken again at Thruxton a few days later, then for Derek Bell at Nürburgring at the end of April, by Jean Max at Pau, and by Jean-Pierre Beltoise at Crystal Palace and Rouen. Schenken used the car for the rest of the season, winning at Hockenheim in October. Sold to John Powell (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) for Formula B in 1973. Sold to Bob Schutt (Kirkwood, MO) at Watkins Glen at the end of 1973, and used by him in Mid West Division FB racing. In the early 1980s, Schutt sold the car to Bob Willis (St Louis, MO), who is believed to still own it in 2019.
2. Brabham BT35 [9] (Dorsey Schroeder): New to Nick Craw, and raced initially in the British Formula Atlantic series at the start of 1971 before moving to the North American SCCA series in May. Borrowed by Alan Lader for the 1971 SCCA Runoffs. Raced by Craw at Bogotá in early 1972, then sold to Bob Schutt (Kirkwood, MO) for Midwest Division SCCA FB in 1972 and 1973. Sold to Dorsey Schroeder (Manchester, MO) and raced by him 1974, 1975 and 1976. Then to Mike Mahan in 1976 or 1977 for autocross, and next to Greg Scharnburg in 1980, also for autocross. In October 2001, it was bought from Scharnburg by Mike Winebrenner (Sellersburg, Indiana).
3. Merlyn Mk 21 [320/FB/71] (Mike Winn): New to Gordon Smiley (Shawnee Mission, Kansas) for Formula B in 1971, via Bill Ippolito's Race America (Dallas, TX). Smiley led before retiring at his first SCCA National, at Bonneville Raceway Park , and then dominated his next race at Mid-America Raceway two weeks later. He also won the SCCA National at Dallas International Motor Speedway in October. Retained by Smiley for 1972, when he won the Ponca City SCCA National and the Continental Championship at Road Atlanta. He retired at the Runoffs, as he had in 1971. When Smiley moved into F5000 in 1973, the Merlyn was acquired by chief mechanic Charlie Williams and run by him for David Loring (Concord, Mass) in 1974. Loring won the Stuttgart SCCA National in April 1974 and then raced it in the Players Formula Atlantic championship. Then sold to Mike Winn (Little Rock, AR) who raced it in FB in late 1974 and Formula Atlantic in 1975, using a Ford twin cam engine. He maintained its record by winning the Lake Afton SCCA National in 1975. To Barry Findley (North Little Rock, AR) who won a SCCA National at Chennault Field early in 1976 before upgrading to a March 74B. It was next seen in the early 1990s when bought from a racing car dealer called Norm in Colorado by David Clubine (Brantford, Ontario, Canada). The car was then complete but apart, and lacking an engine and gearbox. He did not do anything with it, and in about 2005 sold it to Bill Tebbutt (Mississauga, Ontario). Tebbutt sold it in 2009 but cannot remember the buyer's name.
4. Brabham BT29 (William Brown): Bill Brown (Memphis, TN) raced a Brabham BT29 in Midwest Division Formula B in 1973. After faiuling to start for his first three Nationals, he won the Lake Afton SCCA National in mid-August 1973, then scored two more for fifth place at Mid-America Raceway in September, qualifying for the 1973 Formula B Run-Offs. Memphis is on the border of three Divisions, Southeast, Southwest and Midwest, and Brown faced a long haul to any National. He attended the Run-offs where he finished 10th. Previously, Brown had raced a Temple in Formula Super Vee and qualified for the Run-Offs in 1972. Brown scored points in FB in a Brabham again in 1974 and 1975, and raced at Mid-America Raceway in May 1976. He moved to a FSV Lola for 1977. This is probably the Dr. William Russell Brown, a former SCCA racer, who died in 2004. Nothing more is known about the Brabham BT29.
5. Chevron B17 (Guy Revesz): Guy Revesz (Des Plaines, IL) ran a 1098cc Chevron B17 in SCCA Formula C from 1973 to 1975, scoring just six points in a Chevron CenDiv FC in 1973, then finishing fifth in the Division in a Chevron B17 in 1974, and second in 1975. This cannot be 70-04 as its ownership by Bill Anspach and Sandy Brandt overlaps with Revesz' ownership and as 70-04 is the only B17 known to have gone to the US, it seems more likely that this was a former FB Chevron B17b. Photographs show the car had B17 bodywork but that does not eliminate the possibility of it being an updated B15b. It is worth noting that Jim Temme also lived in Des Plaines and had B17 bodywork on his B15, but Revesz and Temme once appeared in the same race, Temme in FB and Revesz in FC, so this cannot have been the same car. Revesz moved into Formula Super Vee for 1976, and his B17 may be the car raced by Barry Geng in FC from 1976 onwards.
6. Brabham BT35 [41] (Thomas Gloviak): Unknown in 1971 and 1972. This car was logbooked by Chicago Region in March 1973, but the logbook number shows that this was not the car's first logbook, and it was originally logbooked before August 1972. Its first known race was at the St Louis Regional at Mid-America Raceway later in March 1973, but its first known results were when it was raced by David Ralston (Elmhurst, IL) in the latter part of 1973. To John Gloviak (Chicago, IL) for 1974 (raced at least three times by his brother Thomas Gloviak), and used in SCCA Nationals and some Pro events from 1974 to 1978. The Gloviaks continued to race the car up to 1982. They planned some suspension changes, but these were never made, and the car was sold to Gene Frings (Mayville, WI) who stored it for some years. Sold in 2002 to restorer David Irwin Evergreen, CO), at which time it had a BDD and FT200 gearbox. Sold to Lee Brahin (Philadelphia, PA) in 2004 or 2005, and raced in SVRA events.
7. Brabham BT40 [11] (Gary Wallace): This would have logically been the first car delivered, but how it was used in the early part of the season is unclear. Bob Kime (Hallstead, PA) acquired the car in the summer of 1973 and raced it for the first time at the Bryar National in early September but crashed it. It was rebuilt by Fran Larkin and loaned the Bertil Roos, who used it to win the Columbo Yogurt Formula B race at the US GP meeting, so it is probably the BT40 that Roos had used on the two weekend before Kime's debut, at Mosport Park and Road America. Kime retained the car for 1974, but having found Formula B a bit quick, opted to convert it to Formula C using a 1000cc Cosworth BDA. Kime accumulated 32 points in Northeast Division FC and finishing second at the Runoffs. The car was converted back for the Watkins Glen GP support race in 1974 but Kime failed to qualify, so the car was raced by Peter Moodie. In early 1975, it was bought by Gary Wallace (Hebron, IN), and raced by him in SCCA Formula B until 1979. Wallace then retained it until the spring of 1990, when he sold it to Cameron MacArthur (Loveland, CO) who used it in RMVR events in the Colorado area. It went to Terry Allard in 2000 or 2001, then Bill Swope (Albuquerque, NM) in 2004, and then to Phil Franzone (Perth, Australia) in April 2010.
8. Brabham BT40 (John Elder): Mike Hall (Twin Lakes, WI) raced a brand new Brabham BT40 at the SCCA Run-Offs, known then as American Road Race of Champions, at Road Atlanta 25 Nov 1972, the first BT40 to race. Hall then raced this car in Formula B and Formula Atlantic in 1973 and 1974. He replaced it with a Lola T360 for 1975 and the Brabham was then raced by John Elder (Rosemount, Minnesota) in SCCA Nationals in 1975, winning his class at Brainerd in July. Hall had modified his car with a wide nose and a higher and fuller tail, and Elder's car showed the same modifications. The car was then advertised, as "ex-Mike Hall" by Richard Prather's Prather Racing (Wheeling, IL) in November 1976. There is a good chance this was the car raced by Peter Robinson (Madison, Wisc) in 1976 and 1977. Subsequent history unknown.
9. March 722 (Tom Cooney): Thomas A. Cooney (Indianapolis, IN) raced a March 722 in Central Division SCCA Nationals in 1974. He had a delayed start to the season after the car was damaged in a fire in his garage in May, but debuted at Road America in June, the car having "arisen from the ashes of his garage" according to the Indianapolis Region newsletter. He scored a single point that season for his result in the Detroit National at Grattan Raceway. Cooney retained the car for 1975, rising to 11th place in the Divisional standings with 11 points, and kept it again for 1976, but the now ageing car only scored a single point. He acquired a newer Chevron B27 for 1977, and the subsequent history of the March is unknown.

Sources

Note that the identification of individual cars in these results is based on the material presented elsewhere in this site and may in some cases contradict the organisers' published results.

All comments, clarifications, corrections and additions are most welcome. Please email Allen (allen@oldracingcars.com) if you can help in any way with our research.

Individual sources for this event

SCCA Sanction 75-N-46S. Official results kindly provided by Rocky Entriken. A total of 23 FA, FB, FC and FSV had their own race. Also Rocky Entriken, The Salina Journal 24 Sep 1975 p19 gave class winners (https://www.newspapers.com/image/43942978/); Sports Car Dec 1975 p40: Rocky Entriken gave the class winners of the last three National of the season in his column on the "Club Racing" page. St Louis Post-Dispatch 8 Sep 1975 p"14" gave type numbers for each of the class winners' cars, and mentioned Fred Stout's accident. Rocky Entriken, The Salina Journal, 24 Sep 1975 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/43942978/)